Mexican fan palm

Washingtonia robusta H.Wendl.

Arecaceae

It is a species from North America, the Washingtonia robusta, paradoxically with a thinner trunk than the filifera is also an ornamental palm tree that is named in honor of George Washington.
The presence of the palm, either African or American, has been questioned and criticized by some authors with conservation criteria, to ensure that they are the product of Orientalist fashion and romantic nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Anyway, the palm is now an element of the historical palimpsest that are the gardens of Real Alcázar, showing the passage of time and fashions, as such and as living beings worthy of being preserved.
There is an anecdote from the former curator of the Real Alcázar, Romero Murube who illustrates this debate about the age of palm trees in the Alcázar. Murube tells that, while he was leading the Shah of Persia, 'they asked me if it was true that in the gardens of the Alcazar of Seville there were ancient palms. So, millennia-long ... The doubt would have left Sevillian kings in a bad position, beginning with Yusuf and ending with my colleague in the heavenly muse, the great Almutamid. I answered affirmatively with great determination. There was a small transjordanian dialogue between the King and his interpreter. They tightened the siege; His Majesty wanted to know which the oldest palm was. I, with a decision that amazed me, pointed at the highest palm tree among the farthest. The King looked at it for a long time, in a tenderly and complacently. Then, he looked at me with affection and gratitude. He seemed happy. I sighed. The honor and old age of the palm trees of the Alcázar were safe. This whole scene lasted just over a minute. But I sweated for a whole year. '